Sensex, Nifty Slip As Investors Weigh US-China Truce, Stay Cautious Ahead Of July Inflation

The domestic stock market went through a topsy-turvy session on August 12, 2025, as market participants digested the news of the United States and China agreeing to extend their trade truce by another 90 days. Market participants were also cautious ahead of the July retail inflation numbers, which were released after the market closed.

Benchmark indices, which gained in the initial hours of the session, pared all the gains to close in the red.

At close, the Sensex was at 80,235.59, down 368.49 points, or 0.46 per cent. Likewise, the Nifty 50 slipped 97.65 points, or 0.40 per cent to end at 24,487.40.

The broader market indices mirrored the benchmarks as the Nifty Midcap 100, initially trading higher, slipped to close lower by 0.27 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 also traded higher in the green throughout the session, before closing nearly flat, with a mere 0.04 per cent gains. The Nifty 500, which represents more than 92 per cent free-float market cap of all the NSE-listed stocks, lost 0.29 per cent, and the Nifty Microcap 250, which tracks the performance of the top 250 most valued and liquid stocks beyond the Nifty 500 constituents, remained unchanged.

Banks, Financial Services Weigh, IT, Pharma Lift

On the sectoral front, banks, financial services, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors emerged as the top losers, while pharma, auto, TIT, and energy gave some support. Nifty Financial Services lost 1.02 per cent, followed by Nifty Bank, which declined 0.84 per cent, primarliy pressured by private banks such as HDFC Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

On the other hand, Nifty Pharma gained 0.69 per cent, Nifty Auto rose 0.56 per cent, Nifty IT and Nifty Energy climbed 0.38 per cent each.

Nifty 50 Top Gainers and Losers

From the Nifty 50 index, Tech Mahindra rose 2.03 per cent to emerge as the top gainer, followed by Maruti Suzuki, which gained 1.98 per cent. Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Cipla, and Tata Steel were other top gainers, gaining between 1 per cent and 1.8 per cent.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Eternal (formerly Zomato), HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, and Tata Consumer Products led the losses.

Key Market Cues For Tomorrow, August 13

Q1 Results Tomorrow

The April-June earnings season is drawing its end and as many as 640 stocks listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) will report their quarterly results on August 13. Market participants will also be reacting to the earning s released by companies post-market hours .

India CPI Inflation July 2025

India’s retail inflation softened 55 basis points (bps) to 1.55 per cent in July 2025, the lowest since June 2017. Food inflation slipped deeper into negative territory at -1.76 per cent, the weakest since January 2019. The decline in cost pressure were attributed to lowering prices of pulses, vegetables, cereals, eggs, sugar, and lower transport and education costs. A favourable base effect also helped pull down prices.

Market participants are likely to react to these fresh macro numbers, as they could influence the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) interest rate decision in its upcoming October policy meeting.

India-US Trade Talks

According to a Times of India (TOI) report, senior government officials told a parliamentary panel that India will not compromise on its key positions in ongoing trade talks with the US and stressed that all issues will be resolved through constructive dialogue. Market participants will be closely tracking for any major breakthrough in the talks.